Business Analysis
ISYS1051
AMES “Adult Multicultural Education
Services”
Done by: Hula Kahlal
S3236327
Monday Class - Pradip
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Executive Summary:
AMES is an organisation that works hand in hand with the Department of Immigration. It is
responsible for the first six months up to one year (depending on the complexity of the case) for the
process of refugee settlement, by linking the clients to several services such as Centrelink,
healthcare, banks, housing organisations and so on. AMES’ operations can be divided into two levels:
Pre-arrival and Upon arrival. Pre-arrival operations take place when AMES receives a notice from the
Department of Immigration that a client (whether an individual or a family) is arriving on a particular
date. Upon arrival level starts when the client arrives Australia and ends when the client is fully
settled and all his needs are fulfilled, which should be within the first six months of arrival, if no
issues don’t arise during the settlement process.
In this report, we will closely examine the operations that take place within AMES, by drawing a
Formal System Model of the business’ operations, Use Cases from the client perspective (i.e. the
settlement steps in the client’s point of view), Use Cases from the Case Coordinator’s perspective
(i.e. client’s needs that need to be fulfilled by the end of the settlement process), flow chart
describing this process as well as a Data Flow Diagram, describing the flow of information starting
from the information received from the Department of Immigration up to the last stage of the
process when the client is exited from the program and referred into another organisation.
We will also discuss the problems that AMES faces during the process of settlement, which mainly
include communication and authority issues within AMES staff, as well as the disrupted flow of
information between AMES and other service providers outside AMES frame.
Furthermore, AMES situation and the high competition in the market will be discussed, and the
improvement plans and model that AMES is adopting to prove its competitors and the Department
of Immigration that the work it’s performing is clearly differentiated than the performance of
competent organisations.
Company Overview:
“AMES Settlement-IHSS” (Adult Multicultural Education Services–Integrated Humanitarian
Settlement Strategy) is an organisation that works for the department of immigration DIAC for the
humanitarian program. It is responsible for receiving the new arrivals to Australia from various
countries and settling them in Australia and fulfilling their basic needs for the first six months up to 1
year of their arrival, depending on the situation of the client.
AMES has five partners that work hand in hand with:
-
Ames Settlement: responsible for all settlement operations
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Redback: an organisation responsible for providing initial accommodations for new arrivals
(i.e. hotels, motels) and long term accommodations (i.e. housing)
-
Brother Saint Laurance: an orgasation responsible for providing household package within
the contractual standards
-
Foundation House: provides counselling service for torture and trauma
-
SCAAB “Springvale Community Aid Advice Bureau”:
The settlement service targets all refugees under Humanitarian Program
The services include:
-
Receiving arrival from airport to the short/long term accommodation
-
Housing
-
House Good Package provision
-
Linkage to service providers (Banks, Medicare, Centerlink, Health)
-
500 free hours for English Language Program
-
Torture and Trauma Counselling
-
Orientation
There are other services offered by referrals depending on clients’ situation (women’s health, family
violence, child protection, legal aid)
Ames is obligated to the contractual obligations for DIAC for funding the program
There are regional offices (West, North, South East regions), head quarter based in Flagstaff
In every regional office there is (Regional Manager, Team Leader, Case Coordinators, Case
Coordinator Support Workers, Community Guides, Volunteers, Administrative staff)
In this report, we will mainly focus on the Case Coordinator’s tasks that need to be done to
ensure that the clients are fully settled and their needs are fulfilled. The Case Coordinator
works closely with the Community Guide, as the Community Guide represents the link
between the client and their Case Coordinator.
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Department of immigration giving
notice that a client is arriving on a
particular date
Before client arrives
Contacting Redback
For accommodation
Allocating a case
coordinator
Requesting a
Community guide
Referral to
Acknowledging DIAC
Another
By updating the
organisation
Database for
Funding purposes
Exit procedure
Ordering house
package
Mid-way
assessment
Stores Client
details
Booking an appointment
with centrelink
Upon arrival
Enrolment in AMEP/
Education program
Initial
Assessment+
Signing a consent form
by the client
Linking to
healthcare
Following up with
client
Settlement of
client
Represents the levels of
operations
Represents the important
operation that all other operations
depend on
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Conclusions and Recommendations:
Prior to client’s arrival to Australia, the Department if Immigration contacts AMES, giving full details
of the client, such as date of arrival, number of family members arriving on the same travel
document, family details (full names, dates of birth, genders, education level achieved, if any
member is subjected to torture and trauma, if there is any link living to Australia that client wishes to
live close to, etc...). By receiving this information, the head quarter of AMES sends them to the
regional manager at the allocated site where the client will be residing allocates a Case Coordinator
who is preferably chosen to belongs to a similar background as the client (if possible) to ease
communication and understanding and to be fully responsible for providing client with the necessary
settlement services on arrival. The Case Coordinator then sets a plan and prioritize the tasks that
need to be implemented prior to client’s arrival by booking appointments with Centrelink,
contacting business partners to let them know that a client is arriving (for example, contacting
Redback to provide initial accommodation or long term accommodation for the client), and
allocating a Community Guide that from the same background as the client, to support the working
team in their tasks, which involves guiding the clients to the different service providers such as
centrelink, medicare, banks, doctor appointments, and so on... and providing them with local
orientation and tenancy training, introducing them to their community and religious worship
locations, showing them how to use public transport and how to meet their daily needs.
Once all these tasks are done and the client arrives to Australia, another process starts upon arrival.
The Case Coordinator is required to meet the client on the first day to carry out the initial
assessment in the case plan. The initial assessment starts by introducing himself as the staff member
of AMES who’s responsible for the client’s needs, explaining the services that the organisation can
provide, assessing those needs and setting a plan on how to fulfil those needs accordingly. The client
also needs to sign a consent form which authorises the case coordinator to disclose client’s details to
other service providers in case of any need for offering other services. Case coordinator also checks
if there any emergency needs in the first 24 hours of arrival, and if there are any of these needs, it is
crucial to respond immediately to these needs such as injuries, severe health issues etc...
The Case Coordinator then links their client to health care services by sending a referral to the
Refugee Health Assessment providers who are a group of general practitioners ready to work with
refugees and carry out initial health assessment on arrival which includes tests of blood, urine and XRay as well as vaccinations for children, this is through booking appointments with these GP’s.
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Now enrolling the client to AMES Education (AMEP Program) for English classes for clients who are
non- English or poor English language and making sure that the client is comfortably staying in their
accommodation or the hotel/motel if a permanent accommodation could not be provided at once.
The Case Coordinator is required to contact the Brothers Saint Laurence to provide basic house
package for the client as soon as he/ she settle in a long term accommodation.
The Case Coordinator is also required to follow up with the client to make sure that the settlement
process is going the way it is meant to. Half way through the process, the Case Coordinator conducts
a mid-way assessment with the client, where they can assess the quality of services have been
offered, the services yet to be offered and the outstanding issues that the client is facing, if any. By
the end of the settlement process, the Case Coordinator then conducts a pre-exit interview,
preparing the client for the Exit stage by explaining the process of Exit and checking for any need of
support, then the Exit stage takes place soon after. Exit stage includes a questionnaire called “Client
Satisfaction Survey” regarding the settlement process and is used as a feedback from the client for
future improvement of the service. It also includes an explanation about the other organisation that
the client will be referred to, their services, their location and checking the client’s preference of
whether they would prefer a formal referral, and that is holding a conference meeting between the
Case Coordinator, the client and the new worker in that organisation. This process is called “The
Handover”, or an informal referral, where the client accesses the other organisation’s services and
hands over the referral letter in person.
Below is a SWOT analysis table, giving a brief idea of the internal and external environment of the
business:
Strengths
Weaknesses
-
Quality services
-
Too much paperwork
-
Supportive management
-
Loss of control (when dealing with too many
-
Staff involvement in policy development
-
Ongoing training and updating staff’s
client cases)
-
information
-
Maintaining an ethical workplace
Lack of adequate staff (when dealing with too
many client cases)
-
Lack of space affecting storage of information,
impacting on confidentiality
Opportunities
-
Winning a new contract with the Department
of Immigration that lasts for 5 years
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Threats
-
Many competitors in the market trying to
provide a recognisable quality service
-
Not winning a new contract with the
Department of Immigration
-
New regulations from the Department of
Immigration that negatively affects AMES’
activities and therefore client dissatisfaction
From interviewing one of the Case Coordinator Support Workers (CCSW), it was clear to see that
staff members have too much paperwork to do during the process of settlement, from the early
stages up to the final stage. According to the CCSW’s point of view, paperwork is recommended
during the early stages, but only when reaching the final stage, when making referrals to other
organisations and government departments, paperwork becomes time and effort consuming as well
as a high possibility of making errors.
Another issue that arises is the linkage between AMES and other service providers, out of the frame
of AMES. The flow of information is sometimes delayed, and consequently, causing inefficiency and
delays in the process of settlement. Those delays are caused by the inefficient use of technology
within AMES itself. Case Coordinators tend to fax referrals to the outside service providers, such as
health services. Using fax machines as a way of communication isn’t as efficient compared to using
the E-mail system. It appears that AMES uses the e-mail system when communicating with staff
members and business partners (i.e. only for internal communication purposes), but use the
telephone and fax when communicating with other organisations. This is time consuming and
inefficient, as sometimes the Case Coordinator or other staff members cannot reach the person
they’re calling from the other organisation, causing delays in the settlement process. To solve this
problem, AMES staff members should consider the importance of the e-mail system, not only when
communicating with each other, but also communicating with organisations outside AMES.
Furthermore, the administrative structure is hierarchical, which means there are several layers of
authorities starting from the Case Coordinator down to the Community Guide. Some Case
Coordinators tend to give orders to the Case Coordinator Support Workers and Community Guides
and allocate them the tasks they need to get done. This has led to the weak relationships that some
Case Coordinators have with other staff members that have less authority, and lack of understanding
and communication. AMES staff members should consider that their main objective is to fulfil the
client’s settlement needs within the time frame they have, and for this, there should not be a
hierarchy of responsibilities and authorities, but a smooth flow of information between staff
members and efficient communication. Staff members starting from the Case Coordinators down to
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the Community Guides should get together as a team and discuss the client’s needs and settlement
status. Case Coordinators should consider the importance of Community Guides, as they are the
most that communicate with the clients. In fact, Case Coordinators can learn a lot about their clients
through the Community Guides.
AMES has been working under a 5 year contract with the Department of Immigration since 2005,
and it is now submitting its new tender for the next contract with its competitors in the market.
There are strong competitors for AMES within the service market for new arrivals, which are striving
to submit the best competent tender as well as AMES. Therefore, AMES is working under a great
pressure currently to prove that the services they offer are clearly differentiated than those services
competitor organisations offer. To do so, AMES is setting new improvement plans and adopting a
different model than those organisations in the market have, which is called “Strength Based Model”
which focuses on the empowerment of clients, rather than providing them with easy access to
service providers. This model that AMES is adopting is to improve client’s independence and
determination.
In conclusion, we can see that AMES system doesn’t involve a lot of IT use in it. The business mainly
depends on paperwork inside the officer and using phone and fax to communicate with outsiders.
To become more efficient and minimise costs, AMES should start adopting IT systems to enhance
their day-to-day operations. Also, changing the organisation’s structure from hierarchical to a more
flat organisational structure will enhance the relationship between staff members and increase focus
on the organisation’s objective, which is client settlement.
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